1. The Field of the Invention
This invention is useful in the dental and medical arts. The invention relates to a container configured to maintain a portion of a dental or medical instrument in at least an aseptic condition. Additionally, the invention enables instruments to be easily grasped with a mechanical handpiece and to then be repositioned within a supporting material.
2. The Relevant Technology
When engaging in dental procedures, it is important that the dental instruments employed do not introduce infection into the mouth of the patient. Avoiding the introduction of microorganisms to the area of a tooth being treated is particularly important when performing root canal therapy since infections cause significant problems in root canals. In fact, the inability to successfully counteract harmful microorganisms in a root canal is the primary reason that infected or potentially infected tissue is removed from a root canal during endodontic or root canal therapy. Accordingly, it is important to avoid introducing any additional microorganisms into the root canal.
As part of the root canal therapy, the practitioner typically employs endodontic files to file the root canal and remove infected material. Endodontic files typically comprise a thin, distal insertion end and a proximal gripping end held by a practitioner or inserted into mechanical instruments such as a drill. The thin distal insertion end is often a delicate, flexible tip with sharp edges to enable efficient cleaning of the root canal.
To reduce the possibility of causing infection while working within a dental patient's mouth, it is vital that endodontic files and other dental instruments be maintained in a disinfected environment before and during use. In light of this need for a sterile technique, a variety of different disinfecting dental instrument containers have been developed.
For example, certain dental instrument containers have been produced which are capable of being placed in an autoclave, thereby sterilizing the instruments in the container. Other dental instrument containers have been developed which contain a disinfecting solution for placement of dental instruments into the solution. U.S. Pat. No. 3,248,167 to Friedman, for example, discloses a magnetic dental burr holder. The magnetic burr holder features a box-like container which contains a sterilizing solution. The container includes a hinged lid having a magnetized inner surface. Dental burrs are demountably coupled to the magnetized inner surface such that when the lid is closed, the tips of the dental burrs are immersed in the sterilizing solution.
However, magnetized containers may only be employed to maintain certain metal instruments within a solution. The magnetic container could not be employed to maintain a plastic instrument or the plastic portion of an instrument in a desired position. Endodontic files, for example, often include a non-metallic (e.g. plastic) proximal gripping end. Furthermore, containers made from some metals can be corroded through contact with certain liquids. Additionally, use of metal containers can also be disadvantageous due to their relative weight and due to their cost, which may prevent their use on a disposable basis.
Other containers include a well or reservoir for containing both a sterilizing solution and an instrument immersed in the solution, such as the container disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,862. However, a mere reservoir fails to maintain a portion of the dental instrument outside of the reservoir. Thus, when a practitioner desires to grasp the dental instrument, the practitioner must immerse the practitioner's fingers or another dental instrument into the sanitary solution, potentially permitting infectious material to pollute the solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,784 to Hesselgren discloses a stand for instruments for medical use. This stand features sheets of paper arranged vertically close together. The sheets are held close together by the stand. Dental instruments are inserted between the sheets for storage during a sterilization process. To protect the dental instruments from corrosion during a sterilization process, the sheets are impregnated with a corrosion inhibiter. The sterilization process involves either autoclave sterilization in saturated water vapor at 120.degree. C. to 130.degree. C. or by means of dry sterilization at 180.degree. C.
One of the problems associated with a paper stand as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,784 is that the instrument must be placed between the paper sheets. The practitioner must therefore take time to ensure that the instrument is not directed into the paper which may potentially bend the instrument. The corrosion inhibitor may cause the papers to clump together, thereby losing their ability to receive a dental instrument. Furthermore, if papers on one side clump together, the papers on an opposing side could be separated too broadly, such that the dental instruments would slip between the cracks, precluding convenient gripping of the gripping end. The paper could also flake off onto the tips when wet or when ripped from the container. Additionally, as stated at column 3, lines 3-6 after having been used a number of times the instrument stand is considered expended. The stand cannot be used to maintain an instrument in a desired position after a few insertions of instruments as the instruments either break or weaken the fiber matrix of the paper or due to the debilitating impact of either the corrosion inhibitor or sterilization process on the paper.
As an additional difficulty within the art, typical dental instrument containers are complex and expensive structures containing a variety of reservoirs, ports and apertures for the placement of solution and instruments. The formation of these reservoirs, for example, for holding particular instruments therein, requires molding and extrusion processes which are expensive and complex. In addition, in use, the dental instrument must be placed in a specific hole or in a hole selected from a specific series of holes.
Another problem within the art is that sterilizing containers typically do not allow a practitioner to remove debris from the instruments placed within the containers. Instead, relatively large pieces of debris may remain disposed on the instrument while the instrument is placed in a sterilizing solution, hampering the sterilization process.
Based on the foregoing, there is a substantial need within the art for a container which is configured to maintain a dental instrument in at least an aseptic condition. There is also a substantial need for such a container which features efficient cleaning of a dental instrument within the container. Additionally, there is also a substantial need for a container which can be repeatedly used to enable an instrument to be positioned at various locations in the container without damaging the instruments, to be supported in an upright position and to then be easily grasped by hand or by a mechanical handpiece. There is also a substantial need for a container which enables a practitioner to remove debris from a dental instrument and to minimize the potential for cross-contamination between instruments. Further, there is also a need in the art to provide an improved container which is inexpensive, efficient to manufacture, and is disposable. Finally, there is also a substantial need for a kit, and methods of use and manufacture relating to such a container.